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Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Airport Security

This bit (in red below) was in our daily electronic newsletter that all employee’s at non-descript airline get – I couldn’t agree more about the idea of making different security lanes for air passengers. I know, as a frequent traveler, I HATE getting behind someone in security who has never been on a plane or doesn’t know what to do, their pockets full of coins, wearing sneakers, a belt, having a laptop, you name it in slowing down the security line and they are doing it. Aye!

“Airport security would be cheaper and more effective if passengers were divided up according to risk, the head of the International Air Transport Association said. The aviation industry spends $4.7 billion a year on security in the aftermath of the attacks at the World Trade Center in New York 10 years ago, Tony Tyler, chief executive officer of the trade group, said today in Amsterdam. “We have not made it any more intelligent,” he said, speaking at an air security conference. “For the billions of dollars we spend, we could do a lot better.” The CEO called for an overhaul of airport security scanning and said airline passengers should be screened with their bags, without having to stop, remove clothing or unpack. IATA favors splitting passengers into three categories: “normal,” “enhanced,” and “known traveler,” based on customs and immigrations data and information about their travel arrangements such as the payment method. Based on the risk-assessment the passengers would be guided through different lanes, with limited scanning for “well- known” customers and more extensive security screening, including body scans and explosive trace detectors, for higher- risk passengers. “

In the shower today and thinking about the top five films guaranteed to make me cry:1. Fried Green Tomatoes2. Dumbo3. I am Sam4. Steel Magnolias5. Schindler's List

Also, my heart goes out to Meredith Kercher’s family, I could care less about Amanda Knox, but poor Meredith is dead and that is the whole tragedy in this story, nothing else.

8 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Brillant idea to seperate folks based on the type of passengers.

It seems the world is going crazy all the crimnals are running free, enjoying life, while the dead and their loved ones are forgotten.Dr. Murray will probably be an exception, since the case is high profile Hollywood celebrity.

I thought I heard something a few years ago about Orlando having fast lanes that you could buy into or something...and yeah, that murderer walks free - I dare you to get Mom started on that topic...she's so angry she can't write in proper English ;)

I still vote for none. The whole thing is ridiculous, how many hours and dollars have been spent? And today we read about all the plants and animals that made it in while inspectors were diverted? Bad guys will figure out how no matter what we do. Reinforce airline cabin doors and let us get on with life.

Airport security in the EU is not as comprehensive as it is in the US. We took our shoes off only once on our trip to Italy a couple of weeks ago. We took them off in Newark, as we departed the US. We didn't have to remove them anywhere in the EU, or at all on the return trip. Guess we'll only stop shoe-bombers who fly out of the US, not into it. Why do we make such a big deal about taking shoes off when the rest of the world does not? There were many other differences in security, too.

They should give people the bin for stuff that goes through the x-ray machine sooner. Passengers could fill it up as they wait in line. I had my stuff out before I got to the bin, but I was juggling my carry-on, my Kindle, my passport, my ticket, my sweater and my shoes as I waited in line. When I got to the checkpoint, I had to wait with a bunch of other people for them to send some bins back down before we could proceed. Not very efficient.

The best improvement they could make to screening would be to have enough screening equipment and staff available to handle the flow at high-traffic times. Otherwise, they will still have the same number of people to screen with same amount of staff/equipment to do it. A few people will get through faster and be happy, while others will actually wait longer and be more miserable. Additional lines will only create more confusion for people who speak different languages and for people who are not used to traveling.

I wish it was that simple - the population is so diverse these days that it's so difficult to find the suspicious traveler. I'm not sure they even have this kind of controlling system that are connecting passengers data (from around the world) and scanners that are able to scan bags and people together (think on the radiation).